Bowles, who was pressed for time because of meetings and practice preparations, said the incident occurred over something "very childish," but gave few other details.

"Our quarterback is out 6-10 weeks -- meaning Geno," he told reporters. "There was an altercation in the locker room. Had nothing to do with football. It was over something very childish and he got cold-cocked, sucker-punched in the jaw. He has a broken jaw, fractured jaw, requires surgery.

"He won't be at practice today, so you won't see him today. The culprit was IK, the outside linebacker, who has been released. . . . And that's pretty much the gist of it."

In a corresponding move, the team signed cornerback Javier Arenas.

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The Jets play their first preseason game Thursday night in Detroit -- and now they'll need someone else to run the first-team offense. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick is currently their No. 2 quarterback behind Smith, but Bowles didn't rule out the possibility of bringing in another signal-caller.

"We may or may not and another quarterback," the coach said. "But we are down. It's something we're dealing with. And the team knows it. It's something we don't tolerate, it's something we can't stand. You don't walk up to another man and punch him in the face. . . . We're dealing with it internally. That's where we are right now."

Bowles, however, wouldn't disclose the reason behind the incident.

"I'll let them tell you," he said. "It's something very childish that sixth-graders could have talked about and it had no reason happening."